Effects of concurrent exposure to 60 Hz electric and magnetic fields on the social behavior of baboons

Our previous research has demonstrated that 30 or 60 kV/m electric fields (EF) reliably produce temporary increases in the performance of three categories of baboon social behavior: Passive Affinity, Tension, and Stereotypy. The experimental design included 6 week preexposure, exposure, and postexposure periods with experimental and control groups, each with eight subjects. Here, we report two experiments that evaluated the effects of combined EF and magnetic fields (MF) on baboon social behavior. One experiment demonstrated that exposure to 6 kV/m EF and 50 microT (0.5 G) MF produced Period x Group interactions for Stereotypy and Attack, but the previously observed increases in Passive Affinity, Tension, and Stereotypy did not occur. A second experiment demonstrated that exposure to 30 kV/m EF and 100 microT 1.0 G MF did not produce the same magnitude of increases in Passive Affinity, Tension, and Stereotypy observed previously with 30 kV/m EF alone. The exposed group exhibited decreased performance rates for several behavior categories during exposure with further declines during postexposure. The control group showed fewer downward trends across periods.